Battle of Cortona

The Battle of Cortona (1504) was a battle of the Italian War of 1499-1504.

Background
Cesare Borgia's campaigns in the Romagna led to war with Giovanni Maria Malatesta, the son of the deposed tyrant Pandolfo IV Malatesta, who requested Venetian aid in reclaiming Rimini. In 1503, with the aid of King Louis XII of France, Borgia reclaimed Pesaro, Rimini, and Piombino from the Venetians, while he successfully defended Imola, Forli, Fano, and Cesena. However, the war with Venice continued, with Borgia's money being impounded.

In 1504, with his late father's rival Pope Julius II leading the Papal States, Borgia decided to campaign against the Venetians, who had retaken Rimini and Pesaro and were besieging Forli. The Pope, in front of the consistory of the College of Cardinals, sent Borgia to Ostia to lead the Papal navy to Genoa, from which he would launch an assault against Venice in Lombardy. However, as he waited in Ostia, he was informed by his secretary Agapito Geraldini that Faenza had fallen to Venice and that Pope Julius recommended that Forli be surrendered. He was also informed that his navy would not leave the port, that the troops in the city were called back to Rome, and that he was expected to return as well. However, Borgia decided to ride out in front of the troops as they left at night, and he listed the names of all of the men who he had killed, warning his men that they would be added to his list if they left. His men decided to return to Ostia, and Cesare and his brother Joffre Borgia planned to fight Venice by themselves.

Cesare Borgia planned to reclaim Rimini and Pesaro from the Venetians, but, as Pope Julius II threatened Cesare Borgia's army with excommunication unless they returned to Rome, Joffre Borgia offered to command the army to quick victories as Cesare announced his victories to the Pope. Cesare put faith in his brother Joffre, who was inexperienced, as Joffre said that he was a Borgia, meaning that he would vanquish Venice.

Battle
Joffre Borgia's army marched through Tuscany to advance into the Romagna, but his army was instead ambushed by the army of the Republic of Florence in the town of Cortona. The Florentines demanded that he surrender, and the Borgia army was destroyed in the battle; Joffre Borgia was captured during the battle. The Pope then struck a treaty with the Signory of Florence and the Doge of Venice, and Geraldini reported to Cesare Borgia. He warned him that he could not battle Venice, Florence, and Rome, and that communication was a better way to fight.

Aftermath
On 20 May 1504, all of the Spanish cardinals loyal to Cesare Borgia fled Rome, and Pope Julius II appointed a new governor of the Romagna, Bishop Gaspare Sighigelli. This appointment was read out by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in front of the people of the Romagna, who protested and clamored against this, even going so far as throwing a rock at his head and almost lynching him. Vannozza dei Cattanei then confronted the Pope about his betrayal, and the Pope and Vannozza had a tense conversation; Vannozza said that Pope Julius would only be remembered as the Pope after the Borgia pope, Pope Alexander VI. She then tried to stab the Pope, but the Pope restrained her, had her stripped, thrown into her street, and had her villa and vineyards confiscated. Borgia, now powerless, told Agapito Geraldini to retire to Umbria, and he failed to persuade King Louis to end his retreat from Italy after his own army was defeated at the Battle of Garigliano. Cesare visited his sister Lucrezia Borgia, who suggested that he should surrender, but he instead raised an army of Swiss Pikemen mercenaries. He was later besieged by a Venetian army under Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, the husband of Borgia's former lover Dorotea Malatesta, and his Swiss mercenaries betrayed him when the Venetians offered to double their bounty. Borgia was beaten down and taken to Rome in chains, and he was tried for treason and prosecuted by Niccolo Machiavelli. He was imprisoned at a suite in the Castel Sant'Angelo, and he would later escape to Spain.